This invention relates to a surgical suture dispenser and, more particularly, to a reel-type suture case for storing and dispensing desired lengths of suture.
A surgical ligature, or suture, when packaged as a coil in a protective tube has a tendency to kink upon being unwound. Kinking requires that the suture be straightened out prior to its use, a requirement which prolongs the surgical operation. To obviate this difficulty, hand-held suture dispensers featuring a reel for storing a quantity of suture have been developed to provide a desired length of suture which, being free of kinks or other irregularities, can be used immediately without the need for straightening or similar preparative manipulation. Suture reel dispensers of known construction are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,376,151, 2,376,152, 2,938,624, 3,095,159, 3,112,825, 3,185,299, 3,376,973, 3,545,608, 3,648,949, 3,749,238, 3,815,843 and 4,084,692, U.S. design Pat. Nos. 263,505 and 265,972, Canadian Pat. No. 662,417, European patent application No. 228,965, French Pat. Nos. 2,240,712, 2,277,565, 2,283,974, 2,308,724, 2,320,253, 2,324,315, 2,346,483, 2,358,164, 2,427,415, 2,460,126 and 2,592,024 and Italian Pat. No. 624,072.
In many of these known suture reel dispensers, as the suture is withdrawn from the reel, it rubs against the case in which the suture reel is rotatably seated and when a desired length of suture has been played out, the suture is held by a retaining member which is approximately flush with the wall of the case. This arrangement, in addition to resulting in suture rubbing can make the suture more difficult to grasp and/or withdraw from the dispenser. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,692 for a suture dispenser of this type.